When power corrupts…
Is corporate India misogynistic? Is a question I’ve been
asking myself for a few weeks now. Very recently the news of TVF CEO Arunabh
Kumar surfaced about sexually harassing a woman. Not long after, more such
allegations surfaced from multiple women coming out and openly speaking about
facing similar workplace issues. The funny thing is though, there is no
official FIR from these complainant. They are either anonymous blog posts or
casual disclosures of the matter. The first reaction whenever we hear news of a
woman complaining of harassment at work is victim-shaming. We imagine there are
vested interests and we say, “She’s doing it for money.” If that is the case,
then why not fuel the fire with an FIR, why not come out in the open and really
get the bull by its horns. Why be anonymous? What is the vested interest there?
If multiple women have come forward, in one way or other, means that this is
more than a smokescreen. And after listening to Mr. Kumar stereotype
“heterosexual & single” men, I am convinced this man needs therapy and
education. Over the years, we have seen powerful men, from Trump to Phaneesh
Murthy to Tarun Tejpal, abuse power on women. When you hold such tremendous
financial and social power over your juniors, when you are a star on the rise, then
you come with a sense of entitlement, and with a sense of lawlessness that
makes you feel you can get away with anything. This leads you to rise above
your position, your responsibilities and see the world beneath with a pair of
supremacy-tinted glasses. A British historian once said “power tends to
corrupt”. It is only the most matured and evolved of minds that go unfazed with
power. Men of a different mental-build handle power of position and respect for
others in the same degree. Most men corrupt.
Harassment doesn’t always have to
start with a hand run-down on the thigh. It could start small – with personal
things, which leads to dependency and even promises of career advancement. And
as the pressure builds on, so does the severity of the abuse and assault. And
when it is time to end or “abort” mission, there is the proverbial wrongful
termination of employment.
In a workplace where the sex
ratio is skewed, harassment is commonplace and happens to us all, we admit it
or not. The gravity of it varies. Solution: To not keep quiet. To talk about
it, share the experience because if he has done it to you, he probably has done
it others before you. And in cases like these, the only way to stop the
victim-shamers is with proof of numbers.
